Vacuum breaking and dump valve



= June 14, 1949 D. M. ANDERSON 2,472,933 VACUUM BREAKING AND DUMP VALVEFiled Oct. 22, 1945 ZSheet's-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. j? flw/m/r-M ANDBQSO/V 3BY v June 14, 1949.

D. M. ANDERSQN' .VACUUM BREAKING AND DUMP VALVE Filed/001.. 22. 1945 2Sheets-Sheet 2 mug/me flw/a rM. filvoms'o/v Patented June 14, 1949 U NITED S TATES 2,472,933

' VACUUM? BREAKING AND-DUMP VALVE ,DwightM. Anderson, SouthEuclid, .OhioApplication October 22, L945,-Serial=N:- 623,833

(CIJZWQSQ) Claims. 1 The invention relates to ffiuid-valve-structures,:.and: more particularly 'to' valve t structures-momcprising a combinedvacuum break and. dump .valve: assembly.

wThewinvention will be 'Lierein described:in relaution to..the behaviorof .a water pressure distribut- --ing system serving a building orthe-like.

It is well known to: those skilled in thezpart that when there is afailure of pressure or a sub- "stantial .drop in pressure in :the mainsserving;

a. building, and particularly a building of substantial height, therecession of water in'the 'pipes produces a partial vacuum which mayresult in several undesirable effects, For example, there may be abuckling or partial collapse of :"thin walled piping. More usually,. atoutlets 'Where the water happens to be running at the :moment of failureof pressure, such as in wash bowls, toilet bowls, or similar appliances,there is a strong suction which reverses the. fiuidiflow,

and'may draw contaminated water back into the inlet piping or mains.This is particularly likely when a flexible hose connection, attachedtoian open faucet has its free end lying at the bottom of a wash bowl,bath tub, or the like.

For these and other reasons sanitary codes usually require that thewater system serving buildings be provided with a vacuum break valve ofsome sort to vent the system to atmosphere on pressure failure.

In addition to the precautions above noted, it 1 is desirable that meansbe provided for discharg- "ing the water in the building supply pipingtoa "dump-or sewer outlet at the time of pressure failure, so as toprevent all possibility of contami- .nation and leave the system freeand clean'so that it may be in readiness for the renewal of =-pressure.

An object of the invention, therefore, is the provision of a novel andimproved valve structure which automatically vents to atmosphere when Athere is a failure or substantialdrop of pressure sin the mains, whilesimultaneously providing outlet means for permitting the water in thebuilding to drain to a sewer or otherwise.

Another object of the invention is to provide a --vacuum break valveassembly comprising-means to prevent flooding of the air vent in thevacuum break valve, and leakage out of the air vent valve,

by water from the building system even .when the vacuum break valve is,disposedon, one. of the lower floor levels.

While the invention .willbe specifically described as adapted to thecontrol of the water system for a building,.it is apparent that theadvantages of the invention may be achievedrin ,..fluid.'pressuredistributingsystems of other types, suitable modificationsbeingapparentw-to llthose skilled .in the l art .without roleparting fromathespirit and purpose scribed and defined-in theappended claims.

of the invention. as herein de- In =theijdrawings-which accompany :thisspecification:

rFig. 1:is =a'vertical sectionalview through-a vacuum'v break and dumpvalve embodying-my invention;

"Eig. ,:2 is a vertical sectional view similario Fig. l'but showing theoperating parts .in-.a.-different operating; position;

Fig, 3 isa verticalsectional view :throughsla "vacuum breakwand dumpvalve representing :a somewhatmodifiedt form of :my invention;

- Fig.4 is a view similar-to Fig. 3, but showing ;.the operating partsin a-difierent operating; po-

sition;

Fig. 5 is arviewzpartlyin section, partly in end elevation,-of the.valve assembly shown in-Figal.

'The drawings show avacuum break. and dump valve elficiently combined ina, single housing.

The housing comprises .a-hollow body :member ;indicated generally byreference character .20,

and having an inlet port 2lin communication nwith thewater, supply main(not shown) :anda

service port or outlet port 22 in-communication with a buildingplumbingsystem (also not shown).

.In'its progress from said inlet port to said: service -rwater-passesthrough a vent chamberzz3eandza I eration of said chambers .being more vspecifically described below.

indicated by'the-arrows in'Figu 1, the

dumping -.chamber '24, the construction andtop- Referring toFigs. 1 and2 the-body member is providedwitha pair of annular walls, concentricallydisposed, and consisting of aninner an- .nular wallZli defining centralcylindrical-chamber 24 above noted,-and an outer annular wall 1'26,slightly higher than the said inner wall .25,

said'outer wall defining an annular chamberiZ'I through which the waterflows after passage through the inlet port 2| and the vent. chamber..23.

A vent .cap- 313 has a threaded connectionwith the upper, outer surfaceof wall 26 and a clearance .space is provided. between .said cap andthetop with vent openingtl in communication with the of the inner wall. 25.The vent. cap is provided atmosphere, said opening beingnormally closedby a valve 3?. freelycarried for vertical movement onfloat 32'. Thisvalve seats upwardly, and is-normally in the closed position so long aspressure exists in the mains. The valve 32*has an annular facing 33 ofresilient material adapted to contact an-annular seat 34. When the water"pressure fails; the valve dropsuto the. position shown in Fig. 2; theperipheraledge of the annular --valve coming to rest on .top' of the:inneryannular :wall 25jther'eby:opening the port;.3l,;and venting the:system to atmosphere so: as: ,to; prevent; vthe -r.developmentv of avacuum (in- .the. system.

'-.Hndennormalvconditions,1asahereinaboveinoted when the water entersthe inlet port 2| and proceeds through the venting chamber 23, so as tourge valve 32 to closed position, the water flows over the top ofannular wall and through annular chamber from which it proceedsdownwardly into and through the dumping chamber 24 which will now bedescribed in detail.

The dumping chamber is defined by a hollow plug member generallyreferred to by reference character 36. It comprises an outer roughlycylindrical wall 37 having a threaded connection with an outercylindrical portion 39 of the valve body 25. A hollow plug 38 providesan inner cylindrical wall threaded into portion 40 of body 26. A doubleseated valve member 43 is carried by the lower portion of plug 36 and isspring biased to normally seat upwardly upon a seat member M carried bythe inner cylindrical wall of plug 38. Under normal conditions, whenpressure exists in the mains, the water pressure is effective upon theupper inner face 45 of the valve to force it downwardly, against springbias, to seat upon an annular bead t! carried on a shoulder on theinterior of wall 37 thereby permitting the water to flow under theannular edge 48 of inner wall 33 and thereafter upwardly through theannular space 45 between the outer and inner walls 37 and 38 and thenceto the service port 22 which is in communication with the buildingplumbing. When, however, there is a failure of pressure in the main, thespring 50, which seats on a spider 50a at the bottom of cap 35, movesthe valve upwardly to its upper seat 53 thereby cutting offcommunication be tween the main at port 2! and the dumping outlet 5! inthe lower portion of the plug 35. As a result the water in the buildingplumbing is urged by gravity to flow downwardly and inwardly throughservice port 22 and through the annular passage 39 to the dmnping outlet51.

If the building is of considerable height, the body of water in flowingrapidly past the lower edge of inner annular wall 3% and past the lowerface of valve 43, may have a tendency to create sufficient suction tocause the valve 43 to open partially and permit some of the water fromthe building to enter the chamber 24. If such is the case, it will beapparent that when pressure is again resumed, this water, which may becontaminated, will flow again through the building plumbing. In order toprevent this undesired effect, I have provided an additional choicevalve member 55 which floats freely in the space 43 surrounding wall 35.Said choke valve has a vertical annular portion 56, and dependingtherefrom, an outwardly extending flared portion 57. The annular portionhas a sliding fit on the outer surface of wall 38 so that it may moveupwardly or downwardly rather freely, responsive to water pressureeither on the upper or lower surface of the flared portion 57 which liesin the path of water flow. Normally, that is to say when water isflowing into the building supply system, it moves choke valve 55upwardly to permit free flow of water past the lower, outer periphery ofthe flared portion 5?. However, when the main pressure fails, the waterflowing from the building plumbing system to the dump outlet 5| impingesupon the upper surface of flared portion 57 moving it downwardly to itslowest position Where it contacts with shoulder 58. When in thisposition the water flowing to the dump outlet is permitted merely totrickle past the outer periphery of flange 51, such flow beinginsufiicient to produce enough suction to unseat valve 43 from its upperseat 4 I.

It will be apparent that the dump valve 43 prevents water in thebuilding system from flowing outwardly through vent 3|. when pressurefails in the main, even though the valve housing 30 is disposed at oneof the lower floor levels in the building, regardless of the pressure orabsence of the dumping outlet 5 1.

Figs. 3, 4, and 5 illustrate another embodiment of my inventioncomprising a vacuum break valve and a dump valve. Referring to thedrawings I show a fitting 60 having a water inlet port 81, and an outletor service port '62. Projecting downwardly from the fitting is a vacuumbreak port 63 normally sealed by a downwardly seating valve 64 which hasa resilient seating face 65 for contact with an up-turned bead 66 on thewall of the port 63. It will be apparent that when water from the mainenters port '8! it maintains valve 64 in leak-proof relationship withvalve seat 56, but if pressure fails in the main, atmospheric pressureunseats valve 64 and relieves the vacuum developed on pressure failure.

Associated with the vacuum break valve is a dump valve assembly housedin another project'- ing part 79 of the fitting, said projecting portionis of hollow cylindrical form internally in communication with the waterinlet port 6!. A plug 7! has a screw threaded connection with projectingpart l0, and the plug is provided with one or more externally openingapertures 12 constituting dumping ports. Plug also is threaded into part70 and is provided with ports 79 extending through its outer annularflange. A

double seated valve 13 is normally maintained on its lower seat 74 bywater pressure in the fitting, so as to permit the water to flow to theoutlet port 62 through the passages l5, 16, ll, 78, 19, and 80. Onfailure of pressure in the main, the spring 83 biases the valve 13upwardly (Fig. 4) to seat at 84 on plug 85, thereby closing passage 11to prevent possible back-flow of contaminated water through service port62. The structure simultaneously permits the water in the building toflow outwardly through dumping ports 72.

When a structure of the nature just disclosed is situated on a lowerfloor of a building, failure of main pressure while a water outlet isopen as heretofore disclosed might induce a siphoning action by a rushof water to ports 12, entirely apart from the vacuum caused by drop ofmain pressure. In such case the action of valve 13 causes such siphonedwater to be discharged to a sewer outlet, while at the same time sealingthe passage between the building and the fresh water main. Even ifdumping ports 72 are not present, upward seating of valve 73 effectivelystops all siphoning action since it closes the outlet for fresh water.

It may be desirable at times to restrain or entirely prevent thedischarge of water from the building water system serviced by port 62(Figs. 1 to 3). As is apparent from the drawings, valve 73 has anupwardly extending stem portion or guide 73' which is movable verticallywithin the reduced upper cylindrical portion 85 of plug 85. Surroundingsaid reduced portion 85, and freely slidable vertically in passageway83, is an annular valve which is seatable downwardly on a seat -9l, soas to substantially block retrograde flow of water from service port 62through ports 7-9 whenever pressure drop in the main permits valve 73 tomove upwardly to its seat 84.

As will appear from a study Of Figs. 3 and 4.

as long as water is flowin under pressure from port 6| to port 62, itsupward flow in passages l9 and 89 raises valve 99 to the position shownin Fig. 3. This permits water to flow to service port 62. When waterpressure fails in the main, choke valve 90, under retrograde waterpressure from the building system, drops to the position shown in Fig.4. If restrained flow of water past valve 90 is desired, the seat 9| maybe perforated, grooved, or otherwise arranged to permit water to tricklepast seat SI and leave by ports 19 and 12.

It is apparent, from a consideration of the structures hereinillustrated and described, that there is a close cooperatingrelationship between the vacuum break valve and the dump valve shown inthe several embodiments to such extent that while the vacuum break valvevents and breaks the vacuum resulting from pressure failure, the dumpvalve protects the vacuum break valve from flooding through gravity orsiphoning.

What I claim is:

1. A device of the character described comprisin in combination, acasing having a fluid inlet port in communication with a source ofpressure fluid, and a fluid outlet port in communication with a systemto be serviced, a passageway through said casing normally establishingcommunication between said ports, there being a vent opening toatmosphere from said passageway through said casing, a vent valve forsaid vent opening and biased to closed position by the pressure of fluidnormally transmitted through said passageway, a dump opening in saidcasing disposed in said passageway between said vent opening and saidoutlet port, a dump valve for said dump opening, spring biased meansengaging said dump valve in a direction tending to open said dump valvebut said dump valve being normally maintained in closed position by thepressure of fluid normally transmitted through said passageway, whereby,when fluid pressure drops in said passageway, said vent valve and saiddump valve open substantially simultaneously to respectively vent saidpassageway to atmosphere, and provide a dumping outlet for reverse fluidflow from said system.

2. A device of the character described comprising in combination, acasing having a fluid inlet port in communication with a source ofpressure fluid and a fluid outlet port in communication with a system tobe serviced, a passageway through said casing normally establishingcommunication between said ports, there being a vent opening toatmosphere from said passageway through said casing, a vent valve forsaid vent opening and biased to closed position by the pressure of fluidnormally transmitted through said passageway, there being a dump openingin said casing disposed in said passageway between said vent opening andsaid outlet port, a valve seat in said passageway adjacent said dumpopening and between said dump opening and said inlet port, a valve seatadjacent said dump opening, a dump valve disposed between the two saidvalve seats, said valve having opposed sealing faces wherewith in oneposition to maintain sealing contact with the seat in said passage so asto prevent reverse fluid flow through said passage towards said inletport, and in the other position to establish sealing contact with thevalve seat adjacent said dump opening so as to prevent fluid flowthrough said dump opening,

spring biased means engaging said dump valve in a direction tendingtowards sealing contact with the seat in said passageway, but said dumpvalve being normally maintained in sealing contact with the seat in saiddump opening by the pressure of fluid normally transmitted through saidpassageway, whereby, when fluid pressure drops in said passageway, saidvent valve opens to vent said passageway to atmosphere, and said dumpvalve moves from a position in which it seals said dump opening to aposition in which it prevents reverse fluid flow through saidpassageway, but permits dumping of fluid from said system through saiddump opening.

3. In a fluid pressure transmission and valving arrangement such asdefined in claim 1, the combination therewith of choke valve meansdisposed in said passage between said dump opening and said outlet port,said choke valve means opening towards said outlet port whereby directfluid flow towards said outlet port is permitted, but reverse fluid flowfrom said outlet port is inhibited.

4, In a fluid pressure transmission and valving arrangement such asdefined in claim 1, the combination therewith of a choke valve seatdisposed in said passage between said dump opening and said outlet port,a choke valve in operative relationship with said seat, and openingtowards said outlet port to permit free flow towards said outlet port,and means providing limited clearance between said choke valve and itsseat even when the choke valve is in seated position whereby reverseflow of fluid from said outlet port towards said dump opening isinhibited.

5. In a fluid supply system having a fluid inlet port in communicationwith a source of pressure fluid and a fluid outlet port in communicationwith a system to be serviced, a passageway normally establishingcommunciation between said ports, their being a vent opening toatmosphere through the walls of said passageway, a vent valve for saidvent opening biased toward closed position by the pressure of fluidnormally transmitted through said passageway, there being a dump openingdisposed in said passageway between said vent opening and said outletport, a dump valve for said dump opening, spring means biasing said dumpvalve in a direction tending to open said dump valve, said dump valvebeing normally maintained in closed position by the pressure of fluidnormally transmitted through said passageway and sufficient to overcomesaid spring means, whereby when fluid pressure drops in said passageway,said vent valve and dump valve open substantially simultataneously,respectively to vent said passageway to atmosphere and to provide a dumpoutlet for reverse fluid flow from said system.

DWIGHT M. ANDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,115,499 Salvoni Apr. 26, 19382,259,984 Anderson Oct. 21, 1941 2,310,586 Lehman Feb. 9, 1943 2,325,956Holtman Aug. 3, 1943 2,399,996 Fitch May '7, 1946

